It’s been a long time since we’ve had a relatively healthy NBA season, and now months before it’s even set to begin, we know we won’t have one this year.

Friday night’s nationally televised Team USA scrimmage in Las Vegas was going as planned. The intensity was picking up in what had mostly been a mundane affair to that point. The Blue team had cut the lead to 10 and were trying to make it a competitive game down the stretch. All the elation in the air by Derrick Rose darting up and down the court like he never missed a game was dissipated when Paul George crumpled to the floor after defending James Harden’s layup attempt a few seconds into the fourth quarter of the scrimmage. The game would abruptly end there.

It was good fun to crack jokes at PG’s expense this season, laugh about his baby momma situation and the Pacers seemingly never-ending collapse. It was only fun because I was rooting for LeBron and deep down I feared the threat George posed to James’ throne atop the NBA.

A player capable of matching James not only on offense but on defense as well, George is a budding superstar, and his injury is a disaster for not only his team but the league as a whole. It feels like yesterday Bron was dapping PG up, mid-playoff game in 2013, because sometimes real just recognizes real. Now James is wishing his peer a speedy recovery via Instagram because there really isn’t anything else he can do.

The official diagnosis is a compound fracture of the tibia and fibula bones in his right leg, but the gruesome snapping of the bones in Paul George’s lower right leg feel like so much more than that simple diagnosis. George had a successful surgery to insert a rod into the leg and stabilize the bone late last night, and early expectations for his recovery are six months before he’s on his feet again, then additional time beyond that to get back on the court.*

The injury being “only” fractures is actually a bit of good news of sorts since ligament and muscle damage can be longer lasting, bones heal permanently. During George’s surgery, it was found that he suffered no additional damage beyond the fractures of the bones and the wound he suffered when the bone broke through the skin.

Most expect the two-time All Star to miss the entire 2014-15 NBA season, and the Indiana Pacers will probably exercise caution with their best player and face of their franchise, choosing not to rush his return.

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Impact On The Pacers

On a micro level, George will be fine, the injury will heal and he will still receive his salary for next season even if he doesn’t suit up, thanks in part to the precedent set by Michael Jordan’s famed “For The Love Of The Game” clause. The Pacers will even be reimbursed $6.3 million of the $15.8 million they will pay him this season if he misses every game, another incentive for the Pacers to practice patience with George’s recover.

The implications are clear: it is often a team’s best players who are asked to participate in international competition, an injury to one of those players can be catastrophic to team, especially to one so heavily reliant on said player, just like the Pacers are on George. Without him, their offense craters, and without Lance Stephenson this year it will be even worse as they will lean heavily on George Hill and CJ Miles to create offense from the perimeter.

Indy now lacks a true perimeter stopper on defense, and while it is Roy Hibbert who anchors their defense at the rim, it’s George who shifts onto whichever perimeter player the Pacers need to quell, be it LeBron James or someone as quick and diminutive as Chris Paul. Just like that, the Pacers have went from a contender in the East, to a possible lottery team, all because of something that happened in an exhibition game. The reverberations will be felt league wide, and if the Pacers get off to a bad enough start they may take a mulligan for the season, blow up their foundation and look for a high draft pick to go with George’s return next season.

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On International Play Moving Forward

It remains to be seen what NBA teams can or will do to prevent their stars from participating in international play, but the image of the USA Men’s Basketball team may never recover from the sight of George’s leg at that grotesque angle. George’s injury follows Blake Griffin tearing his meniscus during U.S.A. team practice in July 2012.

George had made waves in the last week because of his performance in camp, namely his one-on-one battles with Kevin Durant, so much so that Durant went out of his way to praise PG and many experts had George slotted in as the starting small forward for team USA. Many believed that his defense would be crucial to their chances of winning the FIBA World Cup in Spain as his long arms and fast feet combined with Durant and Anthony Davis on the front line would allow the team to integrate assistant coach Jim Boeheim’s famed 2-3 zone into their defensive scheme.

Now Team USA may be forced to dial the defensive pressure back, instill a more conventional scheme with DeMarcus Cousins at center and Davis and Durant at their more traditional forward spots.

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In the long term, one has to wonder how many stars will willingly take the risk of suffering a fate similar to George’s, or how hard the players union and NBA will fight to bar professionals from international play period. Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported last night that the injury is a tipping point for NBA players playing in international play, and that’s to be expected.

However, the deal between FIBA and the NBA bars teams from preventing players from FIBA play, but with reports of players sobbing in the locker room after George’s injury they might not even need to. As team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski said after the game, “there’s a brotherhood in the NBA,” and these players watching one of their brothers fall in such a way may be all they need to decide that international play is simply a risk that outweighs the rewards it provides.

The allure of representing the country in international play is just that – alluring. Basketball players make their money, and their legacies in the NBA. That’s the mecca of basketball, the plateau which every player strives to reach. FIBA play is no where near as heralded as FIFA, where the World Cup is the pinnacle of the sport. These are summer exhibitions that more and more stars simply declining to take part in. Now, after what happened to George, there won’t even be a negative stigma attached to simply turning down the opportunity. Players won’t be criticized as being selfish for not playing for their country. There will be those fans who understand and accept it if a player chooses not to play for his own best interest.

Time will repair George’s leg, but the NBA and USA men’s basketball team may have been altered forever in an instant.

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* – For comparison, Kevin Ware broke the same two bones in a similar manner and was back on the court in a limited role in six months. Ware’s season ended prematurely after he was kicked in the same leg he injured a month later.

On one hand I do see some players backing out and the general age of our teams skewing younger – but it’s not like NBA players don’t hoop in the off-season, our take part in tournaments – the truth is any play could have a freak injury tii just have to hope for the best

I really hope people don’t shy away from international play bc of this, and frankly I don’t think they will. Everytime they step on the court they’re risking a serious injury, it could happen literally anywhere. Once you start playin scary, when do you stop?

@KSChris okay, I get the owner mentality, but let’s look at the other side of this then. so what do you suggest Team USA does? put in college players who aren’t getting played and likely lose every year?

Why does what Team USA does from here on out matter? From a player, owner, and NBA standpoint it’s irrelevant. From a USA! USA! USA! nationalistic standpoint, yeah that would suck… but personally I don’t really care enough about international play to risk my favorite players’ health on games that don’t matter.

I’m a Cavs fan. If Kyrie or LeBron (if he was playing) injured themselves playing for anyone other than the Cavs, I would be pissed off.

And freak injury or not, there is the question of the padded hoop post under the basket being closer than regulation, which was essentially the main reason for the injury with George landing right up against the padding and his body’s momentum taking him further putting pressure on the leg.

@KSChris I think what Team USA does matters bc bball is a global game and the US is world leader, I think we set a precedent. I totally get the player/owner/nba standpoint, but I think it’s selfish.

that being said, if Kobe in his prime (im a Laker fan) was injured in the world championships i’d be pissed as fuck as well. however IMO sometimes you gotta charge it to the game.

now in regards to the padded hoop being closer: you’re entirely right, however I think it’s safe to say the line of cameramen on the baseline in a regular NBA game could have caused an injury that may not have been as severe but bad all the same.

I’m not a nationalism guy, so I’ve never been one to get upset if a player decides not to play on a national team. However, this injury like Kevin Ware’s injury was a freak accident that could happen at anytime. Basketball players are going to play and once the shock of the injury dies down, I think the NBA players will still play.

I do see NBA owners doing whatever they can to try to stop players from playing though. That’s where the real fight will be.

Guys were going to start skipping these things anyway. Everything is turning into numbers, and both teams and players are starting to count total minutes. They’ll balance the risk/reward, and non-Olympic national teams are probably going to take a big talent dip.

this happens all the time in soccer and it aint change shit. This injury could have happened at anytime, look how awkward he landed, his leg had to snap like that. he was coming down with way to much force for a landing like that. This couldve happened in a pacers practice as well.

I can’t believe the questioning of international play is becoming a legit thing. And it’s only because the US think the Olympics is more important than FIBA. If this happened during the summer games, the dialog would be completely different.

I honestly don’t know why international play is so treasured to begin with, regardless of whether it’s FIBA or Olympics.. Not only does it put added wear on these players to begin the regular season, but the risk of injury is always there.

Because basketball is a global game and despite what you may think, a lot of people involved (players, coaches, even fans) like it. Risk of injury for a player is ANYWHERE on the court. Trying to blame international play for a freak injury is lame.

Isn’t one of the biggest narratives right now that the goal post was closer than regulation, which is basically the whole reason George landed oddly?

Risk is anywhere on the court, but you have to calculate risk/reward when you’re playing for someone other than your team. We are seeing more big names turn down these international competitions everytime.

Don’t get me wrong, I like the spectacle of it. It’s fun to watch. But the NBA season is long enough to begin with, and you usually see some wearing down of players that play in the Olympics during the regular season.

I don’t think it’s some crazy notion to think “questioning international play is a legit thing”… there are valid questions to be asked about it all.

The difference between International Play and Professional Play, is you GET PAID for only one of them. This is a big reason why a lotta NBA players don’t play streetball anymore–risk of injury. It’s why NFL players don’t go play tackle football in pickup games… the risk of injury when you’re not getting paid to do so is just too high.

Yes this was a fluke. Yes it coulda happened to anybody. But you’d rather get Shawn Livingston’d during an NBA season than during preps for games no one’s paying you to be part of.

And while PG is getting paid by the NBA, this injury could affect his future earnings. bigtime. We can rattle off a laundry list of guys from the NBA, NFL, MLB, who for all the medical advances and seemingly not-so-bad-injuries were never right after said fluke injury.

God bless “love of the game” but I’ll never hate on a dude looking out for his own interests when no one else will.

If the US was serious about International Play, they’d set aside some cash for insurance policies and compensation packages to actually PAY PLAYERS SPECIFICALLY FOR PARTICIPATING in it. If you think the shoe companies donated the gear and the media outlets donated the air time to cover then you’re a fool. You guys think Coach K is coaching ‘em for free?

Sheeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiii….

Make it worth their time and cut em an extra check. Make it a bonus clause or a rider clause in NBA contracts or something.

Or here’s a crazy thought: lets encourage more amateurs to play–collegiates and HS cats, too. Mix it up.

Coach Pop looks like a genius for pulling Ginobili out and FIBA didn’t even bat an eyelash. Why is that?

I can see other coaches and GMs doing the same in the future regardless of FIBA-NBA agreements (and I’m sure that agreement will be re-visited in the near future). I love watching international play because its basically a series of all-star exhibition games, but not at the expense of my favorite team’s season. NBA trumps FIBA World Cup any day of the month.